German synthpop trio Alphaville is best remembered today in the U.S. for the Dance chart-topper “Big in Japan” and other floor-filling hits including “Forever Young,” “Jet Set,” “Dance with Me,” and “Red Rose.”  Alphaville’s 1984 debut, also titled Forever Young, was released as a Super Deluxe Edition in 2019; now, on May 7, Rhino will follow that reissue up with Deluxe Editions of the band’s next two albums, Afternoons in Utopia (1986) and The Breathtaking Blue (1989).  These remastered releases have been overseen by founding members Marian Gold and Bernhard Lloyd.

Afternoons in Utopia continued the trio’s winning streak when it placed in the top 20 of the album charts in Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland (and just outside of that range in Finland).  Lead vocalist Marian Gold, lead keyboardist Ricky Echolette (who had replaced Frank Mertens), and keyboardist/drum programmer Bernhard Lloyd composed almost the entire album themselves, including the singles “Dance with Me,” “Universal Daddy,” and “Jerusalem.” The trio welcomed an expansive array of guest musicians – more than two dozen in total – and four producers.  While the album only ascended to the lower reaches of the Billboard 200 in the U.S., “Dance with Me” hit No. 22 on the Dance survey, with “Red Rose” making No. 24 and “Universal Daddy” placing at No. 65.  Still, the band was never happy with its sound.  Bernhard Lloyd notes in the press release for this reissue that “Afternoons in Utopia was created in turbulent times and unfortunately, the mastering didn’t get the attention it deserved at the time. The album simply didn’t sound the way it could have and should have been – both on vinyl and CD. We were able to adjust this and worked with all analog master tapes. We brought the sound back to life with today’s possibilities and a lot of love and patience.”

The album will be reissued as follows:

• 1-LP edition pressed on 180-gram vinyl with the remastered album plus a 24-page booklet with rare and unreleased photos in a gatefold sleeve; and
• 2-CD edition with the remastered album on CD 1 plus a bonus disc with 14 remastered B-sides, 12″ & 7″ mixes, remixes, demos as well as a rare live version of the single “Dance with Me” plus a 20-page booklet.

Three years later, Gold, Echolette, and Lloyd returned with Alphaville’s third studio album, The Breathtaking Blue (1989).  Despite creative tensions behind-the-scenes, the band expanded their sonic palette with the addition of acoustic and electric guitars as well as orchestral elements such as strings and brass.  Klaus Schulze, one of the earliest progenitors of the electronic music genre, came on board to produce with the band.  The experimentation extended to the format itself; The Breathtaking Blue was one of the earliest CD-G (CD-Graphic) releases.  The CD-G format allowed for lo-res graphics to display when played on a compatible device; it would be most often used for karaoke discs.  Of the singles released from the album, the most successful was “Romeos,” a moderate hit in Germany.  The album reached the charts in Germany and in Finland.

Accompanying the release of The Breathtaking Blue was the film Songlines which presented music videos for nine of the album’s ten tracks, each one of which was helmed by a different director.  Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein’s film for “Middle of the Riddle” went on to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film under the title Balance.

The Breathtaking Blue will be reissued in the following formats:

• 1-LP/DVD featuring the remastered original album on 180-gram vinyl including a 24-page booklet with many and rare photos in a gatefold sleeve, plus The Breathtaking Blue: Songlines on DVD; and
• 2-CD/DVD with the remastered album on CD 1 plus a bonus disc with 16 remastered and remixed B-sides, 12″ mixes, and remixes of album tracks, plus The Breathtaking Blue: Songlines on DVD and a 20-page booklet.

The DVDs also feature the 1989 CD-G animations while the booklets have been created in consultation with the original albums’ designers.

These remastered Deluxe Editions from Alphaville are both due from Rhino on May 7.  You’ll find pre-order links below; Amazon U.S. links are currently placeholders but will be active soon.

Afternoons in Utopia: Deluxe Edition (Rhino, 2021)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: Remastered album (released as WEA (Europe) 240 948-1/Atlantic (U.S.) 81667, 1986)

1. IAO
2. Fantastic Dream
3. Jerusalem
4. Dance with Me
5. Afternoons in Utopia
6. Sensations
7. 20th Century
8. The Voyager
9. Carol Masters
10. Universal Daddy
11. Lassie Come Home
12. Red Rose
13. Lady Bright

Disc 2: Bonus material

1. Dance With Me (Empire Remix)
2. Universal Daddy (Aquarian Dance Mix)
3. Jerusalem (The Palace Version)
4. Sensations (Club Mix)
5. Red Rose (The Remix)
6. The Nelson Highrise (Sector 2: The Mirror)
7. Next Generation
8. Vingt Mille Lieues Sous Les Mers incl. The Nelson Highrise (Sector 3: The Garage)
9. Big Yello Sun (Concrete Soundtraxx for Imaginary Films I)
10. Red Rose (7″ Remix)
11. Sensations (7″ Remix)
12. Carol Masters (Original Demo)
13. Lassie Come Home (Original Demo)
14. Dance with Me (Unplugged – Live in Salt Lake City 1999)

Tracks 1 and 6 from “Dance with Me” 12″ single – WEA 248 747-0, 1986
Tracks 2 and 7 from “Universal Daddy” 12″ single – WEA 248 643-0, 1986
Tracks 3 and 8 from “Jerusalem” 12″ single – WEA 248 504-0, 1986
Track 4 from “Sensations” 12″ single – WEA 248 517-0, 1986
Track 5 from “Red Rose” 12″ single – WEA 248 386-0, 1987
Tracks 9-10 from “Red Rose” single – WEA 248 388-7, 1987
Track 11 from “Sensations” single – WEA 248 518-7, 1986
Tracks 12-13 from Dreamscapes – Navigator Music AV 9001, 1999
Track 14 from Stark Naked and Absolutely Live – Navigator Music NAV 0001-CD, 2000

The Breathtaking Blue: Deluxe Edition (Rhino, 2021)

2CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: Remastered album and single versions

1. Summer Rain
2. Romeos
3. She Fades Away
4. The Mysteries of Love
5. Ariana
6. Heaven or Hell
7. For a Million
8. Middle of the Riddle
9. Patricia’s Park
10. Anyway
11. Romeos (Single Version)
12. Summer Rain (Single Version)
13. Mysteries of Love (7″ Remix Edit)

Tracks 1-10 released as WEA (Europe) 244 855-2 / Atlantic (U.S.) 81943, 1989
Track 11 from “Romeos” single – WEA 247 070-7, 1989
Track 12 from “Summer Rain” single – WEA 246 803-7, 1989
Track 13 from “Mysteries of Love” single – WEA 246 555-7, 1989

Disc 2: Bonus material

1. Romeos (Extended Mix)
2. Summer Rain (Extended Version)
3. Mysteries of Love (Remix)
4. Headlines
5. Sister Sun
6. Like Thunder
7. Summer in Berlin (Demo Version Remix)
8. She Fades Away (Titanic Version – Original Demo)
9. Ariana (Original Demo)
10. Heaven or Hell (Original Demo)
11. Headlines (Original Demo)
12. The Mysteries of Love (Alternative Remix)
13. Romeos (Teknopella)
14. Romeos (Balcony Mix)
15. Romeos (Radio Edit)
16. Romeos (Tribal Mix)

Tracks 1 and 4 from “Romeos” 12″ single – WEA 247 069-0, 1989
Tracks 2 and 5 from “Summer Rain” 12″ single – WEA 246 802-0, 1989
Tracks 3 and 6 from “Mysteries of Love” 12″ single – WEA 246 555-0, 1989
Tracks 7-11 from Dreamscapes – Navigator Music AV 9001, 1999
Tracks 13-16 from “Romeos” U.S. 12″ promo – Alantic DMD 1318, 1989

DVD: The Breathtaking Blue Songlines (released on CD+G and Warner Music Vision 244 855-6, 1989)